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joefremont

Around the world in 175 days part 25: Iran! Chahabar and Bandar Abbass

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July 7 1924: In Karachi the flyers were hosted to a dinner by the RAF officers, the first time they had dinner with ladies* present since leaving the states, in a speech the base commander reminded them they had traveled 12,577 miles since leaving Seattle, father than anyone before, but still had over 14000 to go.  With the help of the British mechanics they spent two days replacing the engines on there three aircraft, they worked during the day and spent the evenings having dinners at the homes of various British officials.  The morning of July 7 they were up at 3am for breakfast and were in the air by 6:30 for Chahabar Persia (now Iran).  They flew over sand, ancient lava flows and mountains which Arnold described as the “most lonesome, barren and desolate place imaginable”.   Shortly after noon they crossed into Persia and descended on a small port city on the Gulf of Oman.  

* I assume 'Ladies' means upper class women of European extraction.

September 6, 2017: For the next flight we will be using the Consolidated B-24.  As I am sure you all know, the B-24 is a four engine bomber that first flew in 1939.  Designed with a efficient high aspect ratio Davis wing, the B-24 could had a high cruise speed, long range and a heavy bomb load at the expense of being difficult to fly and having poor low speed performance.  While the aircrews preferred the B-17, the general staff preferred the B-24 and it was produced in very large numbers, over 19000 were built making it the most produced multi engine American military aircraft in history.  The aircraft I am using today was produced by Virtavia and despite being a FSX model works well in P3Dv4.  It’s a bit difficult to fly but once you remove the bomb payload it becomes much easier.  My flight to Chabahar was pretty easy, weather was good, 9 knot winds with scattered clouds at 3000 feet and a temperature of 27.8C/82F.  We flew at 4000 feet along the coast of the Gulf of Oman and landed at Konarak Airport, the 358 nm flight had taken 2.2 hours.

One historical note, after crashing in Alaska, Sergeant Harvey completed flight training in 1926 and was commissioned as an officer.  In September 1941 he flew over 3150 miles in a B-24 to carry a lend-lease delegation to Moscow, he then continued around the world through India, Australia, Wake island and Hawaii, 

Here are a few pics from the flight.

wc.4.5.1.jpg
Ready for takeoff.

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Engines running.

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Airbourn.

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Check the gauges.

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Selfie!

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Along the gulf of Oman.

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Glamour shots.

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Landed.

July 7, 1924: In Chahabar they were met by a representative of the Indo-European telegraph company who had arranged there supplies. The fliers quickly refueled there aircraft as they ate the sandwiches supplied by the wife of the British. They were in the air again at 2:35 for Bandar Abbass.  The four hour flight was uneventful and when they landed in Bandar Abbass they were greeted by Mr Richardson, the British Consul who had volunteered to act as there advance agent in the area.

September 7, 2017:  For the next flight we will be using the Supermarine Spitfire.  As I am sure you all know the Spitfire was the star fighter of the RAF for most of World War 2.  First flying in 1936 the Spitfire was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft and the only British fighter to be in continuous production throughout the war with the last being built in 1948 after over 20,000 were built. The model I am using today is a Mark IX and was produced by RealAir and is one of my favorites (great shame they shut down). The weather for takeoff was good, 6 knot winds, few clouds at 2000, temperature of 27.7C/82F  I flew along the coast of the Gulf of Oman at 4000 feet and after a short time ran into increasingly thicker cloud layer that forced me to descend to 1000 feet to keep the coast in view.  I landed at Havadarya Airport, Bandar Abbass after flying 249 nm in 1.3 hours.

Here are a few screenshots:

wc.4.6.1.jpg
Ready for takeoff.

wc.4.6.2.jpg
Selfie!

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Glamour Shots

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Flying along the Gulf of Oman

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Clouds ahead.

wc.4.6.6.jpg
Staying low to keep under the clouds.

wc.4.6.7.jpg
Following the coast.

wc.4.6.8.jpg
Landed.

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Beautiful details....thanks!

HLJAMES

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